


Hanging on by a Thread

by Demi_Fae



Series: Whumptober 2020 [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Descriptions of Blood, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Whump, Whumptober 2020, and pain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:35:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26691526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Demi_Fae/pseuds/Demi_Fae
Summary: Obi-Wan didn’t know how long he’d been hanging there, only that it had been long enough for him to lose all feeling in his arms. Blood dripped down from his wrists, the weight of his own body held just above the ground causing the shackles to cut into his skin. It was starting to get harder to breathe with his arms above his head, but stretching his toes down to rest on the ground hurt too much to try and do anymore.The sound of Obi-Wan’s breath in his cell was his only companion for a long time. He could feel himself drifting off, exhaustion overpowering the pain keeping him awake, when his cell door slammed open.-Day 1: Waking Up Restrained |Shackled|Hanging
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker
Series: Whumptober 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1930612
Comments: 10
Kudos: 119





	Hanging on by a Thread

Obi-Wan didn’t know how long he’d been hanging there, only that it had been long enough for him to lose all feeling in his arms. Blood dripped down from his wrists, the weight of his own body held just above the ground causing the shackles to cut into his skin. It was starting to get harder to breathe with his arms above his head, but stretching his toes down to rest on the ground hurt too much to try and do anymore. 

The sound of Obi-Wan’s breath in his cell was his only companion for a long time. He could feel himself drifting off, exhaustion overpowering the pain keeping him awake, when his cell door slammed open. 

Obi-Wan smiled, though he was sure it came out as more of a grimace. “Hello there,” he tried for his usual Negotiator tone. 

His captor snarled in response. “Where is it,” he demanded. 

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow. “Where is what?” 

The man came over to Obi-Wan and punched his abdomen. Obi-Wan tried to curl around his stomach and coughed as the man became more frantic. “The tracker! How the GAR has found us so quickly!” 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Obi-Wan was telling the truth. There was no tracker on him. His captors had been thorough enough during their first search, removing his commlink and any other items that had even the smallest chance of alerting Cody and the others to his position. What they had seemed to forget, however, were the Jedi’s ‘mystical’ powers. 

Or, rather, Obi-Wan’s old training bond with one Anakin Skywalker, which they had yet to sever. 

Another punch, this one to Obi-Wan’s ribs, forced a low moan through his lips. The man had intentionally gone for one of Obi-Wan’s cracked ribs and Obi-Wan’s vision nearly whited out with the amount of pain that shot through him. He could have sworn he felt another rib crack and even breathing was becoming unbearable. 

“How did they know where to find you!” 

Had the man not been so volatile, Obi-Wan might have tried bantering. As it was his captor was a few words from being pushed over the edge, and Obi-Wan was in no state to hold out against his temper. However, there was no ‘right’ answer to the man’s questions either. If Obi-Wan told the truth the man would just become angry and beat him for leading the GAR to their position, and if he lied then the man wouldn’t believe him and beat him anyway. 

“There’s no… tracker… on me,” he panted. Hopefully a partial truth would cause less harm than anything else. And, Obi-Wan admitted to himself, his head was swimming enough he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to keep any other lies straight. 

“Liar!” The man screamed, and punched him again. This time Obi-Wan couldn’t hold back his scream. It was pulled through his teeth as the man punched him three times in quick succession. Obi-Wan coughed, then coughed again. It felt like there was something bubbling in his chest, something that couldn’t be stopped. A metallic tang filled his mouth as blood dripped out the corner. “I know you brought them here somehow!” 

Obi-Wan couldn’t even breathe to reply. The combination of his arms above his head and blood filling his mouth made him feel like he was suffocating not even to mention his ribs which sent pain lancing through his torso. His legs were fine for now but there wasn’t any guarantee that they would stay that way, with the way his captor seemed to become angrier and angrier. 

“Tell me!” He roared. 

“What….. does it… matter?” Obi-Wan forced. His vision was starting to go fuzzy. “They’ll.. be ‘ere.. s’n an’way.” 

The man reached for Obi-Wan’s robes with fury in his eyes. He pulled Obi-Wan forward off the wall, ignoring the low moan as Obi-Wan’s arms were wrenched behind him. Before he did anything, however, it was like a switch had flipped in his brain. He carefully set Obi-Wan back against the wall and grinned. 

“Well then, it doesn’t really matter what I do to you now then, does it? There’s no reason for me not to now kill you.” 

Logically the man would have a better chance of escaping, or even reducing his sentence if he kept Obi-Wan as a hostage. As a Jedi killer? He'd be in with the worst criminals and he wouldn't last long. 

Obi-Wan didn’t have the strength to respond. He just closed his eyes as the quiet snick of a blade opening echoed in his ears. Instead he reached out to Anakin through their bond. He’d been tracking him passively in the Force but now he needed to know exactly how close Anakin was. He could feel the man readying himself to- cut? Stab? Obi-Wan didn’t want to find out- as Anakin grew closer and closer. He was only a few seconds away but Obi-Wan knew he wouldn't make it quite in time. 

Obi-Wan let out a scream that echoed down the halls as his captor's knife drove into his stomach. It cut deep into his flesh and finally drew tears from his eyes. His ribs ached above the wound and the man twisted the knife just to hear Obi-Wan screech. He didn't have the strength to curl up or try to pull away. All he could do was try to bear the onslaught of agony ripping through him, and he wasn't even sure how much longer he could do that.

Obi-Wan tried to focus on anything else. He could feel Anakin becoming more frantic as Obi-Wan couldn't shield the pain he felt, and Anakin's emotions burnt higher in response. His signature was loud and overwhelming and probably contributed to Obi-Wan's aching head but all he felt was relief. What so many other Jedi shied away from Obi-Wan found comforting after years of training the Chosen One. 

Anakin came through the same door that Obi-Wan’s captor had just minutes ago. He was angrier than Obi-Wan had seen him be for quite some time. A shadow covered his face as he took in the scene- Obi-Wan hanging shackled from the wall, bruised, bleeding, and crying, and his captor in front of him, knife dripping blood. 

Anakin didn’t even bother igniting his lightsaber. He just shoved a hand out in front of him and threw the man across the room. His head cracked on the stone and knocked him unconscious, and Anakin left him to the clone troopers filing in behind him. They’d collect the man and bring him aboard to await his trial. 

Anakin was far more preoccupied with Obi-Wan. With a swipe of his saber Obi-Wan’s shackles were cut and he collapsed gratefully into Anakin’s waiting arms. He was too exhasuted to even try and break his fall with his hands, and besides that, he trusted Anakin to catch him. 

“Took you long enough,” he coughed into his former padawan’s ear. 

“I thought you’d be happier to see me, Master,” Anakin replied. Obi-Wan gratefully sunk into Anakin’s warm embrace. He didn’t realize how cold he was until now. Obi-Wan’s eyes started to close even as he fought to stay awake. 

“Anakin?” Obi-Wan’s voice was muffled in Anakin’s tabards, and the younger Jedi hummed in reply. “Thank you.” 

Anakin’s mechno hand brushed Obi-Wan’s hair aside gently. “Sleep, Master, we’ll get you out of here.” Obi-Wan wanted to argue, to say he could help, but now all he wanted was to rest. And so he did. 

Obi-Wan let himself drift off, knowing that Anakin would always be there to have his back. 

**Author's Note:**

> And then Anakin proceeded to Fall and not have Obi-Wan's back anymore :'D  
> (I make myself cry, too)
> 
> You can yell at me on tumblr at [rynae-reblogs](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/rynae-reblogs)


End file.
